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Tag Archives: 28mm

I’ve not posted for a while but I am doing things over the last few week. Most recently I’ve been working on more of the Perry Miniatures Vichy French for North Africa and Madagascar. For a change of pace I picked up this 75mm gun and crew which had actually been started last year.

The gun itself went together easily enough but it’s a pretty simple model and, for logical enough reasons, misses out a lot of the detail behind the gun shield. I set about adding some of the more prominent parts and in about 15 minutes the whole thing looked busier and a bit closer to the real thing. I was dead pleased with myself for doing this so quickly only to find far better reference for what should be behind there (hint – pictures of restored guns are perhaps not the best reference). So alas I couldn’t leave it that way and some of that was stripped away and more detail added. The ‘metal’ photos below show the earlier version before this was done.

The crew needed to be wrangled slightly to make them fit around the new struts and things (I actually left a strut out on the gunners side so he could fit OK). Really there’s only the basing left to do and some minor painting corrections. The satchel bag worn by one of the gunners, and by the infantry generally, should have proper satchel leather reinforcement and leather buckle straps. I assumed this was plain canvas like the earlier ones, but again better reference prevails.

I’m going for quite a heavy-lined look for these figures. The whole army is relatively quickly painted (more examples in previous post) and I want them to pop nicely on the table. I felt that for an army that I’ll be using with my kids this more ‘graphic’ look is appropriate.

So, he’s finished for now. Had a terrible time trying to get photos this evening and sort of gave up when I managed to get anything remotely useable. Sometimes these things just don’t work out.

The base is cork and grit built up in a flat-topped mound. I then used one of the excellent Greenstuff World rollers to get the stone floor pattern. This was fiddled a bit with to make the edges a little more logical and add some sharper cracks etc. Whole lot painted to match the figure, pinned and glued.

So, for now, some sketchy pictures. I’m hoping to takeadvantage of a friend to help out with some better pictures of the whoe group (henchmen a well) in future.

The next GI is complete. As always the bases wait until a full or half-squad are complete, just to keep things looking consistent. This one carries an M16 smoke grenade which adds a nice splash of colour. I’m really enjoying painting the faces on these in particular.

If there’s any interest I can share a full list of colours and things for these.

So, I’ve been busy on several projects over the summer, some examples below.

Painting in Malta is slightly different to the UK, with temperatures and humidity so high. I’ve had a devil of a time getting my airbrush to work for more than 5 minutes at a time, and paint behaves a little differently in the heat (not to mention the exciting things that happen to varnish in this humidity).

Overall things are moving along and I’m really enjoying painting again. Really loving painting some Dark Ages figures (especially the Footsore range) and have a new 15th Century Lion Rampant project in the wings, shared with someone who I’ve met on the island.

I’ll probably write a little more about Dark Ages ranges soon. I’ve been picking up a lot of what’s available with no real plan other than that they are great to paint and the background fascinates me. Comparing the different ranges side by side has been an interesting exercise, and there are some newer ‘players’ on the market including the rather excellent Saxon Miniatures range.

Footsore Miniatures Aella sculpted by Bill Thornhill. An absolutely brilliant figure and one that I might paint again at some point!

The finished Perry Miniatures SAS Jeep. The picture doesn’t really do it justice (I would say that though wouldn’t I?), but it is really quite tiny and looks nice in-hand. The original casting needed a little clean-up, but nothing too stressful.

First up are some WIP British infantry. Not too much more to do on them – a bit more definition on the weapons, some tidying up with final highlights and basing (which I’ll do by the section). This half-section is my colour test and a bit of practice for an ‘on the table’ quickish paintjob.

Secondly the first of the SAS jeeps. A few tweaks here and there on this including:
Bonnet catches and details.
Extra stowage.
Brass front axle with turn on the front wheels.
Brass Vickers K mount – more to scale and straight!
Gear sticks!
New mount and placement for the third K gun.
Head-swaps using heads from the 8th army plastic boxed set (I liked the flowing head-dress).

Umming and aahing about swapping the grab-handles but probababy can’t be bothered. It’s not a very fun job and I really want to start painting this.